Untitled
by Selina1
Summary: Just a fic I wrote for a class years ago... Has nothing to do with the characters from the movie, but it is told from the point-of-view of an actual passenger.


Disclaimer: Although this is mostly just historical fiction, I did take some scenes from the movie. This is told from the point-of-view of a woman who was an actual passenger on the ship, but I am not her. She was turned into a background character for the movie, however. For those of you who wish to know who, she's in the background of the scene where Mr. Ismay and the Captain are discussing the ship in the dining room. She looks over at them at one point when sipping her tea. That's her! ;)  
  
Feedback: Not required, but greatly appreciated: Ladyselina@lycos.com  
  
  
  
Untitled  
By Selina  
  
It's been almost eighty-six years since the dreadful night that took my family from me, and still I shudder to think about the cruel water of the north Atlantic. The memories haunt me every sleepless night. My name is Elizabeth Lines. I was a first-class passenger on the most luxurious ocean liner around in my time-- the Titanic.  
  
I was born in Liverpool, England, the year 1900, and moved to Massachusetts. Although I moved to America at a very young age, my mother's thick British accent stayed with me. Even today, when I've lived in America for almost ninety years, people tell me that they can still hear it.   
  
In 1912 my parents explained to my sister and I that we were taking our first spring voyage of that year to visit my grandmother in England with my four-month-old baby brother. I was in a family of wealthy parents. I didn't like being rich. It made me feel awkward to have people do everything for me and wait on me hand and foot. It made me feel that I couldn't take care of myself-- which at that age I was sure of, being a pre-teen, and beginning the years that my mother called "the rebel years." I'd gotten used to the treatment, however. We were to sail to England on the largest and most famous ocean liner ever to sail the sea-- Olympia.  
  
Olympia was said to be the twin ship of the Titanic. The Titanic had not sailed on the sea yet, but I quickly came to know it as "the unsinkable ship." It was almost 900 feet long, over 90 feet wide, and weighed a little over 46,000 tons. She stood taller above the water than most of the urban buildings of 1912. In our rooms, we had electricity AND heat, electric elevators, a swimming pool, a Turkish Bath, a gymnasium, and first class facilities to rival the best hotels on the continent. MOST of first class loved to glide down the grand staircase, which was glass-domed and six-stories, and led into the sumptuous first-class dining saloon. She had two musical ensembles created from the best musicians ever to sail the Atlantic.  
  
Anyway, we sailed to Southampton in the middle of March. We stayed with my dear grandmother in her mansion in Liverpool for about three and a half weeks. We were only going to stay for two weeks, but my grandfather got ill. So we extended the vacation. When my grandfather got better, but was still a little sick, my parents decided to buy a first class ticket on the Titanic, which cost $3,000 then, $100,000 today. So we found ourselves at the dock of Southampton, once again in the presence of another gigantic ocean liner.  
  
When we first started sailing I was in my suite unpacking. Later I was told that the suction of the propellers had drawn another ship into our path and that we almost ran over the little tug-boat, New York. I found this story quite amusing. Just picture this huge ship about the size of a giant moving redwood and a little tug-boat about the size of an ant getting out of the way just in time!  
  
After I was finished unpacking, I led myself on a small tour. This was at about 1:00 PM on April 10th. I got hungry after a while, for I hadn't eaten breakfast. I decided to eat in the first class dining room, where the grand staircase was. I had no problems getting in-- I had met just about everyone in first class when I boarded the ship with my father. My parents were very sociable. Being very wealthy, I guess you have to be. I sat at a table with two or three other women. Across the way, I saw Mr. Ismay, the director of the White Star liner and the captain talking together. I heard Mr. Ismay say that he wanted to beat the Olympia and surprise everyone by getting to New York on Tuesday night. He wanted to go full speed on the dark, freezing, twenty-eight degree water. I was a little repulsed by this. Men! They always want to stretch things as far as they'll go and beyond.   
  
After I had finished eating, I went up to the deck and looked out at the seemingly endless ocean. I must have been mesmerized for quite a while, because the next thing I know my mother was out there with me telling me again how she hadn't recognized me at first because I looked much younger than I actually was. I wasn't really listening to her. She led me back down to our deck and then to our room. The last thing I remember before drifting off into a fitful sleep was my mother telling me I looked so tired that I could sleep for a week.   
  
When I awoke, it was early in the morning-- it was evident that my parents had gone to the dining hall for breakfast. Since I hadn't eaten dinner, I was famished. I brushed my hair so that it looked at least halfway decent and dressed up for the hall. This was another thing I hated-- having to look your best at every meal.   
  
When I arrived at the dining room, I spotted my parents almost immediately by the hat my mother was wearing. I swear! Sometimes she'd wear the tackiest outfits! I rolled my eyes and made my way over. When I sat down the first words that popped out of Mother's mouth were not: "How was your night" or "Glad to see you this morning," but "Now... you look so much better."   
  
My father, however, was a bit nicer. "How are you this lovely, lovely morning?" he asked.   
  
"Um...better," I answered.   
  
"Good. Glad to hear it."   
  
"You could have at least done something with your hair," my mother muttered.   
  
I shot her a fed up look. Then I turned to my father and excused myself. I turned and started heading toward the door. "Won't you at least eat something to put the color back in your cheeks?" my mother called after me.   
  
I went right on board deck and allowed myself to be mesmerized again.   
  
"You're spending a lot of time up here by yourself." A voice cut into my thoughts. I turned around, startled. Molly Brown stared back at me. She was about the only person I could confide in. I told her why I was so upset and she seemed to understand. She said that she agreed about the rich being so judgmental of other people. I must have been walking subconsciously because now we were a ways off from where I used to be. I told Molly that I had to get back to my suite and she agreed that it was getting to be late in the afternoon. I stayed in my suite the rest of the day and didn't dare talk to my mother.   
  
The next day came and went.   
  
The fourth day of our voyage I still hadn't talked to Mother. She had also made no attempt to talk to me. That just made me all the more angry.  
  
That night I was going to bed late. It was about 11:30PM. It always took me a while to fall asleep, so when I felt a tremor I was sure it wasn't a dream. I jumped out of bed still wearing my clothes (I was too exhausted to change) and went down the hall. I was heading up to the deck to see what had happened when I heard a distant voice: "Hard to Starboard!"   
  
I had no idea what this meant, so I raced up to the deck. There, I saw some young boys playing soccer with a block of ice. Instantly I knew what had happened. Call it female intuition.  
  
I saw stewards coming down the deck with armfuls of life belts. I stood there petrified until a steward suddenly appeared beside me, handed me a life belt and asked me to go back to my room. I put on the life belt and headed back to inform my parents.  
  
When I entered they're suite, I was surprised to find them out of bed and getting ready to go up to the deck.   
  
My father spotted me. "Lizzie, what on Earth are you doing here and why are you wearing a life belt?"  
  
I ran up to him frantically, "Daddy, we hit an iceberg!"  
  
My mother gasped.  
  
My father turned to her. "Don't worry. The Titanic is unsinkable, remember?"  
  
There was a rap on the door. "Get up on deck and find a lifeboat!" A voice screamed through the door. This awoke my young brother and my sister shortly afterward came in the room wiping her eyes sleepily. "What's going on, Mommy?"  
  
My mother tried not to sound too frantic. "Nothing, dear, just go back to bed."  
  
I gaped at her. "Mom! They said to go up on deck and get into a lifeboat!"  
  
She stared back at me. "Can't you see that this is all a joke? It was probably some third class people that are trying to scare us into running off so that they can come in and steal all our valuables."  
  
I headed toward the door. "I'm going to find out what is going on," I stated as I slammed the door behind me.  
  
As I was walking up to the deck, more and more people started coming out of their rooms and running up the stairs.   
  
When I finally made it, I saw that everything was totally chaotic. People were running around trying to get in the lifeboats. I turned back to go tell my family when I suddenly got swept into the crowd. I tried to turn back but it was like trying to push away a brick wall. So I just went along with the current of chaos in hopes that my family would soon realize what was going on.  
  
At that moment I felt the boat tipping. My eyes grew wide and I froze in fright. It tilted more and I could here the boat squeaking and groaning. Screams filled the air as the inevitable took place. I began to slip and suddenly, I could move again. I scrambled up to my feet and started running to the other end of the boat. I remembered My family and stopped and turned. I scanned the crowd to find them. A funnel started falling and I looked down to its destination. Leila! My sister! She was standing right in its path! I had to warn her! My mind told my legs to run, but they wouldn't obey. I watched helplessly as screams filled the air. Leila spotted me and reached out for me. I covered my mouth with my hands and tears poured down my cheeks. I reached out for her, but it didn't help. I couldn't help. I saw her scream, "MOMMY!" The funnel fell. I saw a minister with a small group of people. He was reciting verses from Revelations in the Bible.  
  
I was frozen in place. Suddenly, I began to move again, but I couldn't feel my legs running. I soon noticed that I was being carried by a stranger. We reached a lifeboat. One of the officers pointed a gun at the man. "Stay back!" he shouted. "There is only enough room for women and children!"  
  
"Please, sir! This is my little girl! Her mother died a few years ago and I'm all she has left!" the man cried.  
  
The officer considered this for a moment. "All right," he finally said. "Get in."  
  
The man jumped in the boat and put me down. I looked around trying to find someone I recognized. Molly Brown! She was in this lifeboat, also!  
  
She recognized me instantly. "Is that you, Lizzie?" she asked.  
  
I nodded. I ran toward her and she hugged me.   
  
We were lowered down into the dark water. The women began to row. I could still hear the screams. Under my own protest, I looked back at the boat. It had risen almost completely vertically into the air. I heard boards crack over the screams as I realized what was going to happen.  
  
I heard Molly, "Oh, dear God!"  
  
The boat split in two. The bow sunk as the stern settled back into the water. Hundreds of people were in the water. Hundreds of people were also clinging for dear life to the rest of the boat. Slowly it started sinking until the whole thing was sticking up vertically. It bobbed in the water for about 25 seconds and then sank. All that remained of Titanic now were its passengers turned victims in the icy, cold, pitch-dark waters of the cruel Atlantic. Still, we rowed away.  
  
Everything was silent, so eerily silent. Molly Brown suddenly came to life.  
  
"We have to go back," She said. It wasn't a question, it was simply a fact.  
  
"No," the young officer said. "If we go back, they'll swarm us and we'll tip over and join them."  
  
Their argument lasted a few more minutes until Molly shouted, "If we don't go back, hundreds of peoples' blood will be on your hands!"  
  
The officer seemed to think about it. "All right."  
  
So we turned back. The screams had turned silent now. We finally reached the rows and rows of bodies floating in the twenty-eight degree water. We had to slow our pace to lift the dead bodies out of the way of the boat. I scanned the bodies for anyone I knew. I was just about satisfied when I saw my mother cradling my baby brother in her arms. Next to her lay my father. I turned my head away as nausea threatened to overcome me.   
  
I cried myself to sleep for a few hours before our lifeboat was picked up by the Carpathia.   
  
After the sinking, rumors flew that another ship was only less than twenty miles away. Though I never saw this mystery ship I believed the stories. I guess I just needed someone to blame. To this day I haven't been able to look at anything having to deal with the sea without crying uncontrollably. The pain never goes away.  
  
  



End file.
